My Grandpa: an Economic History
I don't have facts here, I just have family stories. My great grandparents, Masha and David Shoshkes, emigrated to Newark, NJ from a small town in Poland as adults. David went into the produce business, starting off with a pushcart. Through hard work and sacrifice, the story goes, he saved enough money to establish a store on South Orange Avenue. Later, he became a distributor, driving his truck to delis in the suburbs with their produce orders. One of his clients was the Town Hall Deli in South Orange, which still exists. As he accumulated some capital, David invested in real estate. These ventures were risky, and due to one financial setback, the family had to pack up and move into an investment property of his, for a number of years. This house was in an Italian neighborhood of nearby East Orange with few Jewish residents. It seems that my grandpa was bullied in school while they lived there. My grandpa Milton was a smart kid. He liked sports but violin made a more lasting i